Welcome, customer!

I must say I am tempted to give these waffles a try.  They're amongst the new eating fads in Seoul.  And perhaps I should indulge a few right away because they may vanish as quickly as the whipped cream that garnishes them.  There is a constant stream of novel foods available in Korea, nearly matching the pace of Korean technological innovations.

For instance, while sampling these Belgian waffles, you can now sip a top-grade espresso.  A few years ago still, the only coffee you could buy was one you'd get from a vending machine for the equivalent of 10 cents, or one made out of instant coffee powder, or the American-type concoction.  Enter the commercial espresso machine.  It's become conspicuous in any serious coffee shops today.  And I can buy freshly roasted beans from a shop two blocks away from where I live!

I noticed another, more subtle change, however.  Only five years ago, the restaurant waiter, the shopkeeper, or the bank teller would have addressed you as sonnim or "guest," as in a guest visiting your friend's parents for instance.  Moreover, young sales assistants would sometimes use the deferential "older brother" or "older sister" to raise closeness and profit figures.  Today, the old intimacy has given way to a business relationship.  When you walk into a store, you're greeted with kogaengnim! or "hello, customer!"  I suppose that's an unambiguous way of reminding you why you're there.

But now... pondering upon the changes that have been occurring in the University, I wonder how long it will take for students entering campus to hear "welcome, kogaengnim!"

From the U.S. Command in Seoul Garrison: Martin Luther King is truly an American hero...

Click here for the article.

... a freedom fighter in the stubborn South.  Apparently, he became advisor to Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy and Johnson, cautiously.  His marches woke up the sleepy American public, and made Americans realise that racism and discrimination were, ultimately, un-American.

Did his ideals win the hearts and minds of the nation?  Yes!  Indeed, "institutions of injustice began to crumble across the U.S. [...] The great democracy our forefathers had envisioned was finally closer to perfection because of an inspired descendant of African slaves."

His track record proves that he is a distinctly American son.  "He helped a Nation see that it could truly fulfill its destiny to be the land of the free and home of the brave."

What a soup of clichés.

It's a real shame that Martin Luther King never had the chance to visit the Yongsan Garrison.  Who knows what he would have said?  Let the generals preach peace and non-violence?


"This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day."

leisure in Seoul

Cutting across the centre of Seoul is a beautiful waterway which did much to give the Mayor of Seoul who commissioned its construction an edge in the 2007 Presidential elections.  No doubt that it has beautified the city.  In its stead was an elevated highway which spouted tens of thousands of cars from one end of Seoul to the other every day, but made the neighbourhood look as friendly as the landscape in Madmax.